


Falling in Time

by MogulMama



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, femharry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22834645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MogulMama/pseuds/MogulMama
Summary: At King’s Cross Station, Harri Potter changes the course of history with one final judgement that even Dumbledore had never foreseen.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Comments: 9
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

Harri Potter had been sent to the past. 

Men and women were strolling around in a variety of plaid skirts and blouses, A-line dresses and tailored suits befitting the era of the 1940s. To be precise, 1943, as she had read in the newspaper after she had scoured the indoor stand selling them. The worker had promptly given her a baleful look, believing she wasn’t above stealing after one glance at her ragged, dirty appearance before she had mumbled under her breath, leaving in a flash of panic. 

The last memory she had of being in her present time was being struck by the fatal curse. Voldemort watching in satisfaction as she had died. No bright light, not even meeting her parents, Sirius ... But she hadn't died. And had no recollection other than suddenly walking across a very Muggle London, bewildered and uneasy by the sudden turn of events. 

As she continued walking aimlessly, questions floating in and out of her head in a daze, she soon noticed ruins at every turn. Buildings were almost completely in shambles surrounding her. The area seemed almost deserted save for a few souls who were wearing gas masks and holding bulletin boards. 

“Hey, darling.” A women in an official uniform said after strolling up to her briskly. “Are you lost? Are you in need of help?”

Harri remained silent, afraid to say one wrong word. What would Hermione do? What does anyone do in this situation?

“Did you live here?” The woman says, her voice hushed and somber. 

What else could she do but nod? The future she belonged in rather resembled what she saw around her anyway. Thoughts turning despondent, she wondered whether fifty years from now she was lying dead at Voldemort’s feet to the delight of all the Death Eaters. 

“What’s your name, honey?” The woman says. 

Harri feels her body trembling but her mind clears adequately enough to say, “Harri Potter.”


	2. Chapter 2

The irony that had befallen Harri Potter was simply too much for her addled mind to handle. 

Wool’s Orphanage she had been dropped off at. The orphanage that housed the future megalomaniac of her time. The monster that killed her with one curse of his wand not even what felt like hours prior. 

Anger simmered in her stomach until she felt nauseous with it. She kept her eyes down as the matron of the orphanage and the police officer that had delivered her here discussed her with pitying faces. 

Harri Potter, the lucky blighter who survived an air raid without explanation. And now supposed an orphan when in reality she’d been an orphan all her life. 

The questions that had been asked of her led her to remain silent with eyes downcast. She couldn’t very well answer questions that asked the names of her parents in a time that they didn’t even exist yet. The absurdity of it all left her shaken. Would she be able to travel back? Was this what the brain did when it was dying; hallucinate? 

Since they had all believed her shell-shocked into muteness, they had taken her off the streets into the nearest orphanage, Wool’s Orphanage as fate would have it, that didn’t look much better than the ruins she had seen. She glanced around at stained walls, gaping holes in the floorboard and the dust-ridden air she could see from the overhead flickering light. 

She wasn’t entirely sure what her plan was. This was where Voldemort lived. She didn’t know what she would do if she saw the psychopath roaming the place. It didn’t take long for her thoughts to turn dark. If she killed him now, she’d save thousands of lives and stop two Wizarding Wars in one fell swoop. She’d save lives from a world of misery, her parents wouldn’t die, Sirius wouldn’t spend twelve years in Azkaban only for his goddaughter to land him dead. She swallowed. 

But what if killing Voldemort here backfired? Hermione would warn against it for the sole argument of the butterfly effect. Killing Voldemort as a teenager wasn’t a small change. Killing him could mean immeasurable changes that she couldn’t ever predict. 

And she was forgetting a vital piece of information. Had Tom Riddle already carved out his soul, made his first Horcrux?

No, no. She would return to the future and kill Voldemort. She had to. 

But how? 


	3. Chapter 3

After the police officer leaves with a curt but respectful tip of his head to the matron (a Mrs Cole as Harri had gleaned from their drill small-talk), the stern-seeming woman turned to give Harri a disconcertingly level look.

“I expect only three rules to be followed at this orphanage,” she starts off briskly, eyes boring into hers enough to make her feel uncomfortable. “First, I ask that you respect the structure around here and do your assigned chores. Second, if you fail to behave you will incur punishment. That means I want none of you running amuck and making a spectacle out of yourself, the Lord knows I’ve had enough of the likes of that.” It rather reminded her of her obese whale of an uncle, when he’d spit out the damned words ‘and no funny business’. Dismayed, she thought that wasn’t a good indicator for the future here. “Lastly, you must arrive to breakfast at 6AM sharp, lunch from 12PM through to 2PM and dinner at 6PM. Find yourself late and you go without, am I clear?” 

Cast out of her thoughts, Harri nods vehemently. 

“Right, I’ll show you to your room. You’ll be sharing with Amy Benson as she seems a similar age to you. Tomorrow we will gather some more,” Mrs. Cole glances at her outfit from top to bottom, curling her lip, “appropriate clothes for you. Unfortunately, our funds here have been tight as of late, so it won’t be much.” The ‘but it’ll be a sight better than what you currently own’ went unsaid between them. 

It wasn’t long before Mrs Cole pulled up to a door with the number 23 inscribed on it in loopy white paint. 

“Now, this is your room. I will ask Amy to help you get around the place so you’re on time for meals and your chores,” she says helpfully as Harri nods along. 

As she pulls the door open, Harri immediately notices the lack of furniture, notably the lack of a bed for herself. Mrs Cole seems to notice her inquisition, “again, there’s not enough funds available for this orphanage, or any orphanage for that matter, what with the war,” her lips tighten, and she marches on, “many children here share beds and you’ll not be the exception to that rule, I’m afraid.” 

Shortly after Mrs Cole leaves for her to get acquainted with the space, where she casts a long gaze across a tidy and clean interior, accompanied by a drab glumness to it that Harri couldn’t help but frown at, Harri notices a distinct oddness in the room. On the bed there seemed to be an ominous dip. It was probably the result of an old bed, yet Harri still found herself approaching it cautiously. Her own paranoia reminded her of Mad Eye Moony, and she felt her chest tighten at the reminiscent thought. 

And then with a small zap of sound, a man appeared. He was wearing smart robes with gold trimmings and was sat down on the bed with one knee over the other, looking on laboriously at her with an expectant smile present on his face. 

Harri leapt backward right into the wardrobe with a sudden shout, the sound of wood banging sharp in her eardrums. 

“Oh dear,” says the man, watching with an unperturbed expression. Harri rather thought she saw a hint of a smirk. 

“What the bloody hell! Who are you?” Harri said quite loudly in response. It was quite obvious he was a wizard, but the remaining question settling on her mind as to why a wizard was here in a Muggle orphanage, so happened to be in her new room at the Muggle orphanage, flummoxed her. 

“Ah. I’m Felix Beaumont, Head of the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. I had honestly supposed you were expecting a visit, but from your reaction, perhaps not?” He chuckled to himself, seemingly finding the situation rather hilarious. Harri thought differently. Then, the man, Felix, raises an eyebrow in exasperation, “did you really expect that the Ministry wouldn’t notice a time traveller in their midst?”


	4. Chapter 4

Harri gaped in astonishment. Felix Beaumont, apparently a leading Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, had explained to her painstakingly that her plight was of most interest in his circle, and the whispers of her had of course incited a rigorous inspection of her whereabouts as soon as they had recorded: "immeasurable volumes of magic centred in the south of London." The eccentric man, bubbling with excitement, then followed the statement with a remark that only served to trouble Harri more. 

Before the occurence, Felix had rested his elbows upon his newly relaxed knees, hands cupping his face, whilst wearing an exceptionally fascinated expression that made the pits of Harri's stomach turn. She had felt like she was being picked apart and examined, almost akin to an exotic animal at the zoo when people would wait for them to become marginally interesting by exerting any form of movement. Harri did not want to move, however. The shock of the day was finally hammering her being at every angle, and all she had wished for at that moment was a long rest, preferablly one in which she would wake up back in her own time, where ironically, her troubles wouldn't cease. At least it would be a completely normal bother that was plaguing her there, though 'bother' hardly encompassed the horrors of Voldemort and her duty to end his little reign of terror once and for all. She clenched her fists. 

Felix then swiftly broke the bout of silence and dragged Harri back to the present. "What is curious about your case, compared with the instances where half a dozen men, and women, have frolicked through time, making a mockery of the natural transgression of things, not taking heed to the consequences, barely making it with their sanity intact," he waved a dismissive hand, and Harri mentally backtracked, second guessing whether her mind was all there at that point too, before he continued: "but no, you are almost ... abnormal. An irregularity, if you will, to what the Department of Mysteries have observed of the appearence of others like you."

"How flattering." Harri had blurted stupidly, voice heavily traced with mordacity. 

Felix laughed, "ah yes. I'm sure you don't take kindly to being called peculiar. I, on the other hand, can clearly see that while it is true, it also makes you incredibly remarkable. Whilst we have concrete knowledge regarding the use of our ... special timepieces," he spoke with a sparkling glint in his eyes, "we know for a fact you did not use one, as they are highly protected at our institute and expressly used by experts in the field. Because how can one learn as a bystander to the subject at hand? One must have intimate firsthand experience to even comprehend the wonders of magic."

"What are you saying exactly?" Harri questioned, fidgeting her hands and them wiping them on her scraggly jeans as she felt a sweat come on all of a sudden.

"I apologise, I do tend to go on quite a tangent," he hummed to himself, "I'm saying the wonders of how you got here cannot be explained, just yet. But we do know it took intense power, such power we did not think possible of one individual witch or wizard's magical core."

"So, what? You're saying I'm capable of some robust feat of magic? I'm average! I'm no one powerful, not like Dumbledore or Merlin or something. There's some other reason for it, alright?" 

"Hm, how unexpected for a Hogwarts Professor to be on par with the almighty Merlin! I have to wonder what has made you regard him so high in your esteem?" Harri cursed her big mouth. This kind of slip-up is exactly something Hermione would have scolded her for. 

"But no matter! I must digress that that was exactly what I was saying. Your power must be profound to say the least!" He clapped his hands together with bright eyes and stood up abruptly. "Now, we must speak of an urgent matter: the terms and conditions over your presence here. It's been too long and I am sure your new roommate will be here to greet you soon, and I cannot very well be here when she does!" He chuckled and pulled out a hefty scroll from thin air. 

"What is that? What do you mean terms and conditions over my presence? Are you saying now I have to meet requirements simply to exist?" Harri huffed in outrage. She couldn't help but mope that this was not the worst outcome for her with the sliver of luck life had granted her. 

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily frame it in such a negative light, but you certainly have to be ... bound by the words that you speak that might pray tell to all outside this room any mentions of the future. It is either this or the Ministry would be all but forced to..." Felix sighs, "let's just say the circumstances if you refuse to sign this agreement will not be favourable to you." He says carefully, and Harri believes she's never known a threat to sound so innocent. Yeah, the Ministry would be forced to haul ass and eradicate you, no sweat though! Just sign this and there's no looming danger to your life! 

"Got it." Harri replies sharply. "Tell me though, what do you mean by me being 'bound' by signing this?"


	5. Chapter 5

"So?" Harri begins, digesting the information Felix had given her in no doubt complex terms. "When I start to slip something up about my past, or future, whatever, they just won't hear me?"

Felix hums, considering his answer and says, "in a blunt manner of speaking, yes. However, it is rather more fitting to say that you will become rather uninteresting, they may forget you're even speaking to begin with or they may just be confused and ask you to repeat yourself. It largely depends on the circumstances of what you omit. Of course, I trust you won't have too many of these mishaps, and if anything it hardly affects you. More them, I'd say!" He clears his throat, and lets the scroll float from his hands toward her, a quill cheerfully bouncing after it.

"Just sign here, here and here." The quill jabs at each place to sign whilst the scroll whisks and whirls to each appropriate page. "And I'll be out of your hair in a jiffy. I am quite busy and I've been here too long as it is, so best to hurry along now."

Harri grabs the quill out of the air, and with just slight hesitation signs the contract in the three places required and feels a zap run up each arm as the quill and scroll disappear in a poof of air. Just as Harri was going to ask "what now?" in a sense of apprehension because basically Felix had suggested she'd be staying at the orphanage in the meanwhile and going to Hogwarts after the summer ends without allowing for butt-ins, he was already gone without even a sign to show he was there in the first place.

Apparition'd out of the room without so much as a "bye!" 

And now she was all alone.

*

Harri had been settling on the bed, rather uncomfortably although it was notably better than what she'd been used to lately: what with the hasty escape to the woods, and camping on that barren rock after Dobby...

Harri shuts out her thoughts, wants to lie down and forget but can't. She feels exposed and raw here, in such an unfamiliar place so far from her friends. In fact, her friends don't even exist.

Harri lets out a trembling sigh, just as she hears a knock on the door, and a girl just about her own age peeps her head out and steps into the room with hands clasped in front of her. She had thick choppy brown hair just reaching to her shoulders, and brown eyes that strayed far away from her being. She seemed rather hesitant, quiet.

 _Good_ , Harri thought. _At least she's not chatty, I'm hardly in the mood to talk_.

"Hullo," she started skittishly, "I'm Amy. Mrs Cole said you'd be here. It's dinnertime, y' see. I'll show you to it?"

Harri was about to nod along, and then...

"OH! Excuse my manners, your name's Harri right? Never heard of a girl named Harri before." She trembles as though speaking upsets her, and simpers down with her eyes lowered.

"I've heard that a lot, actually." Harri takes pity on the girl. "I'll follow you?"

"Yeah! Of course." Harri starts for the door and the girl holds it open, and off they went with a foreboding silence cloaked around them.

Harri begins to recognise the girl's name now, it filtering through her head over and over. Amy Benson. She digs her nails into her palms hard enough to bleed because it felt a whole lot too real now. Tom Riddle lived here, had _harmed_ this girl beside her, and she was about to meet him.


End file.
